Rail-joint.



S. BOWMAN.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26, 1913.

1,100,210. Patented June 16,1914.

Witn sses Jhyfifllm lnventor Attorneys STACY BOWMAN, OF QUBWENSVILLE,PENNSYLVANIA.

BAILJOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 1914.

Application filed November 26, 1913. Serial No. 803,214.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STACY BOWMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Curwensville, in the county of Clear-field and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Rail-Joint, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention appertains to a rail joint, and aims primarily toprovide a novel and improved means for coupling or connecting themeeting ends of railroad rails.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a unique means forcoupling or connecting the meeting ends of the rails, and which shall becomparatively simple, compact, substantial, durable and inexpensive inconstruction, as well as simple, convenient, practical and eflicient, inits use.

It is also the object of the present invention to provide a joint of thenature indicated, which will permit the rails to expand and contractunder the atmospheric changes, and which will also permit the rails toswing slightly with respect to one another, in the longitudinal verticalplane of the rails.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a railoint dispensing with the employment of the usual fish plates and bolts,and which is of such construction as to enable the spikes to connect therails to the coupling member, as well as locking the rail ends andcoupling member to the tie.

With the foregoing general objects outlined and with other objects inview, which will be apparent as the nature of the invention is betterunderstood, the present invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

The present invention has been illustrated in its preferred embodimentin the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure l is a plan view of a railjoint constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the joint. Fig, 3 is a longitudinal section of thejoint, taken on the line 3-8 of Fig 1, Fig.

at is a cross section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of the coupler.

In the drawing, a pair of rails are designated by the numerals 1. Incarrying out the present invention, a pair of plates 2 are welded,brazed or otherwise attached to the opposite sides of the web of eachrail, at the meeting ends of the rails, the end portions of the railwebs being cut away, as at 3, to provide a socket in the end of eachrail, below the tread or ball of the rail, and opening downwardly andlongitudinally. The plates 2 being attached to the webs of the rails, inreality constitute portions of the webs, the adjoining ends of theplates 2 being flush wi tlh the ends of the treads or balls of the nu s.

The meeting ends of the treads or balls of the rails are provided withdepending lugs 4: within the sockets 3 or it may be said, that the upperwalls of the sockets are provided with the lugs 4, which define thesupplemental recesses or sockets 5 at the corners between the uprightand top walls of the sockets or recesses 3. The recesses or cut awayportions 5 may be readily formed in the ends of the rails, prior to theattachment of the plates 2 to the rails, as will be obvious. The plates2 are provided at their lower ends with flanges 6, and the terminalportions of the base flanges of the rails are cut away below the free oradjoining portions of the flanges 6.

The coupler embodies an upstanding web 7 which is receivable by therecesses or cavities 3, and is provided with the base flanges 8 adaptedto rest upon the cross tie. The end portions of the base flanges of therails being cut away, will accommodate the base flanges 8 of thecoupler, whereby the bottoms of the rails and coupler will be flush. Theflanges 6 of the plates 2, which in reality constitute portions of thebase flanges of the rails, are designed to overlap the base flanges 8 ofthe coupler, and the side edges of the coupler base flanges are providedwith upturned flanges or lips 9 with which the edges of the flanges 6are engageable to maintain the rail ends and coupler against lateraldisplacement.

The web 7 is provided with upstanding lugs 10 at its ends,which areengageable in the sockets or cavities 5, and which form a depression ornotch 11 therebetween adapted to receive the lugs t of the rails, asclearly seen in Fig. 3.

The flanges 6, and the base flanges 8 of the coupler are provided withregistering or coinciding longitudinally elongated slots 12, for thereception of the spikes for spiking the rail ends and coupler to thecross tie, in a manner which will be clearly apparent, withoutillustration or further description.

In practice, the coupler 78 may be readily set or placed upon the tie,at the proper position, and the ends of the rails may be readily placedover the web 7 of the coupler, whereby the lugs 4 and 10 of the railsand coupler will interengage or interlock, and whereby the free portionsof the flanges 6 will overlap the base flanges 8 of the coupler, withinthe lips 9. The base flanges of the rails and the base flanges of thecoupler are designed to rest snugly upon the tie or ties, and the spikesmay be readily passed through the registering slots or openings 12 totake into the tie for holding the joint against displacement.

The construction of the interfitting parts is such, as to permit therail ends to slide longitudinally for a limited extent, under changes inatmospheric conditions, the interlocking lugs 4 and 10 of the rails andcoupler, respectively, preventing the rails from being accidentallyuncoupled. It is also possible to swing the rails vertically withrespect to one another, for a limited extent when desired upon a curvedroadbed. The rails may be detached by simply withdrawing the spikes, inwhich event the rail ends may be lifted oil of the coupler 7.

From the foregoing, the several advantages of the present invention willbe obvious to those skilled in the art, it being noted that the objectshave been carried out satisfactorily, and that the present joint issuch, as to withstand the hammering and jarring which joints of thischaracter are subjected to in use.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is In a railjoint, the combination with the meeting ends of the rails, of platessecured to the sides of the webs of the rails at the meeting endsthereof, the terminal portions of the webs and base flanges of the railsbeing cut away to provide downwardly and longitudinally openingrecesses, and a conpler embodying a web designed to fit in the saidrecesses and having base flanges to rest on the tie, the cut awayportions of the base flanges of the rails accommodating the base flangesof the coupler, the said plates having lower flanges to overlap the baseflanges of the coupler, and the base flanges of the coupler havingupturned side lips to engage the edges of the flanges of the saidplates.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

STACY BOWMAN.

Witnesses:

SELINA WILLsoN, I. E. SIMPSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

